Salsa Blackthorn 145

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Cdal1770

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Discussion starter · #1 · Jul 17, 2025

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Howdy folks,

Would y'all mind sharing your reviews of the Salsa Blackthorn 145? I'm a PHX rider. Can this bike be a 27.5+ as well? How's the suspension-feel: descending and ascending? Any input is appreciated.

Cheers!

 

nwberm

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#2 · Jul 18, 2025

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Cdal1770 said:

Howdy folks,

Would y'all mind sharing your reviews of the Salsa Blackthorn 145? I'm a PHX rider. Can this bike be a 27.5+ as well? How's the suspension-feel: descending and ascending? Any input is appreciated.

Cheers!

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You may get a better response in the Salsa forum, not sure. Try asking ChatGPT too. I'm not sure how many riders in this forum actually own or ride the Salsa Blackthorn.

 

Larsey

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#3 · Jul 18, 2025

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Not much out there for reviews. Found this one the other day.

 

nwberm

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#4 · Jul 18, 2025

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It looks like a sick bike! And there are plenty of Timberjack (Salsa's hardtail) fans around here, including me. But their full-suspension bikes have a bland reputation in general. Salsa is the house brand for the distributor QBP. So it's not a brand with the same mystique as someone like Santa Cruz.

 

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Cdal1770

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Discussion starter · #5 · Jul 19, 2025

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nwberm said:

It looks like a sick bike! And there are plenty of Timberjack (Salsa's hardtail) fans around here, including me. But their full-suspension bikes have a bland reputation in general. Salsa is the house brand for the distributor QBP. So it's not a brand with the same mystique as someone like Santa Cruz.

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WWC was making a big to-do about it several years ago.

 

Darth Lefty

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#6 · Jul 20, 2025

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Judging by the hype, Salsa may have sold as many as twelve of them.

 

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Cdal1770

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Discussion starter · #7 · Jul 20, 2025

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Larsey said:

Not much out there for reviews. Found this one the other day.

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I like that this bike has bike packing vibes. I contacted Salsa and received a rather generic and disappointing response to my specific questions. Anyway, I did learn that the bike can only handle up to 2.5 tires which was, again, disappointing. The Switchblade is much more versatile, but damn is it pricey.